Iran Stops Selling Oil in U.S. Dollars
December 9th, 2007Via: Reuters:
Iran has completely stopped selling any of its oil for U.S. dollars, an Iranian news agency reported on Saturday, citing the oil minister of the world’s fourth-largest crude producer.
The ISNA news agency did not give a direct quote from Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari. A senior oil official last month said “nearly all” of Iran’s crude oil sales were now being paid for in non-U.S. currencies.
For nearly two years, OPEC’s second biggest producer has been reducing its exposure to the dollar, saying the weak U.S. currency is eroding its purchasing power.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, has called the U.S. currency a “worthless piece of paper.”
Foes since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, Tehran and Washington are also at odds over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme as well as over policy in Iraq.
“In line with the policy of selling crude oil in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, currently the sale of our country’s oil in U.S. dollars has been completely eliminated,” ISNA reported after talking with Nozari.
Nozari told ISNA: “In regards to the decrease in the dollar’s value and the loss exporters of crude oil have endured from this trend, the dollar is no longer a reliable currency.”
That will make gas more expensive for Americans. I wonder if this will help push America to invade Iran. I can’t imagine the Americans putting up with this.
The dissonance is bizarre — and deafening.
Not a week after the complete lack of an Iranian nuclear program is floated, and Reuters is still priming away on the “US/Iran nuclear program conflict” meme and it’s destiny in conflict, as if they somehow hadn’t heard the earlier news over the wire there in London. Oops, missed that one. Our bad. We take it all back.
Meanwhile, I’m still wondering if what seemed like a rather intentional nuclear “tell” (the nuclear aerial circus) wasn’t actually an attempt to move devices into a different theater outed by officers keeping a weather eye open for bosses a little further upstream. Or similar.
Like you Kev, I weigh much of what’s going down against the public declarations of thin-veil lizards like Z.Big, which leaves me suspecting the movers and shakers don’t really want to see the US Navy take severe losses at the hands of hypersonic Russian anti-ship missiles once they steam past the Straits of Hormuz with bad intent.
Let’s start a pool. Who will be the first folks “admitted” to the camps?
*Economic refugees from the coming waves of mortgage meltdown beginning to break over the decks of the economy from port and starboard?
*Political refugees from sure-to-be radicalizing fringe organizations, most likely already infiltrated and sure to play the patsy to the first local crackdowns in the months and years ahead?
*Geophysical refugees cut loose from their local moorings along low-lying coastlines and their bunkmates who’ve fled the crackdown zones?
While we’re still within the bounds of empire on our improving rural patch in the Ardennes/Eifel, I remain very glad we extracted ourselves from the states when we did. It was eating away at me having to hold my tongue and pretend to be a good soldier nearly full-time. When the social glue begins to come unstuck it isn’t going to be pretty in the land of Tase-first, ask questions later.
“fringe organizations, most likely already infiltrated and sure to play the patsy”
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This reminds me of the Eric McDavid trial in California. Basically, the FBI paid a woman starting when she was 17 to go to protests at the presidential conventions, anti-IMF and so forth. She rounded up a small group of vegans, and had them stay at her cabin, which was rigged with video cameras. At the trial the prosecutor for the FBI’s case was accidentally substituting the name of the writer ‘Derrick Jensen’ for a young defendant Zack Jensen.
McDavid didn’t commit a crime, but faces felony conspiracy with terrorism sentencing enhancement up to 20 yrs. The video showed the informant ranting on passionately, encouraging them to take out a dam (something D. Jensen has referred to), or the power to a major city, and she heckles them for being all talk and no action. McDavid actually talks her down and sounds reasonable, but has a crush, writes her love letters, and seems to nod yes to impress her.
http://www.supporteric.org/court.htm
It was rather amazing for me to read this post today. That Iran might do this used to be one of my larger BOOGEYMEN and when mentioned to someone, they’d be like WTF? Why are you wigged out about THAT?
Just type “Iranian Bourse” into google. Here’s one result – maybe number one in the search:
http://www.energybulletin.net/12125.html.
I don’t think many of us can comprehend what it will mean to the U.S. and the world when the dollar loses its primacy. I’m still trying to figure that out. I’m sure Big Dick knows. Iraq wasn’t only about the oil, it was about the dollar as well. There is going to be a lot of pain from this.
I must say to Iran’s credit, they have very large balls to do this. Following a clean nuke report from the CIA – Very large.
And quintanus -????????? Iran and dollar = fringe organizations??????? I don’t get it.